Urban Enterprise Zones in New Jersey: Have They Made a Difference?
Some current proposals appear to have been pulled off the Vietnam shelf: Jack Kemp's
urban enterprise zones resemble the strategic hamlet program; sending advisers to Peru recalls widening the war into Cambodia; stressing the number of people put behind bars sounds like body counts.
TRENTON, N.J., May 23 -- The five top writers of car insurance are among the companies that have fallen short of writing coverage in the state's 28
urban enterprise zones, and have been ordered to meet their quotas by year end.
The Clinton administration has set a number of economic goals, which include: * Increasing business investment: by enacting a 10% investment tax credit offering new businesses a 50% exclusion from corporate profits tax; making the existing research and development tax credit permanent; providing credits for firms in
urban enterprise zones; and expanding loan programs for small businesses in cities.
In the meantime, the public comment has been closed on the proposed creation of a special insurance exchange to keep car insurance rates from skyrocketing in the
urban enterprise zones once the new map is approved.
Clinton further promises to try to set up a national network of community development banks to provide small loans to low-income entrepreneurs and to create
urban enterprise zones.
* designating
urban enterprise zones and empowerment zones for a targeted federal purchases, locating the proposed Federal Manufacturing Technology Outreach Centers in those zones, and providing a portion of U.S.
The administration also called for creating
urban enterprise zones in 300 areas nationwide.
* Investing in Communities: Target funding and CDBG for rebuilding infrastructure; create a nationwide network of community development banks for investments in inner cities; put 100,000 new police officers on the street and create a National Police Corps to help cities fight crime; create
urban enterprise zones; pass a more progressive Community Reinvestment Act;
It would provide for 50 rural and
urban enterprise zones. Cities and towns designated by HUD or the Department of Agriculture for enterprise zones would be able to issue a modified of qualified redevelopment bonds--only half of which would count against the state private activity volume cap.
President Bush vetoed legislation in April to extend expiring municipal tax priorities - municipal mortgage revenue and small issue industrial development bonds, and the low income and targeted jobs tax credit programs - and to create
urban enterprise zones. After the civil disturbances in Los Angeles, the House passed a revised tax bill, including not only permanent extenders of the priority municipal programs, but also $5 billion in enterprise zone tax credits and direct assistance to the nation's most severely distressed cities and towns.
Huber discussed the importance of New Jersey's special financing programs; its tax districts, including
Urban Enterprise Zones and Foreign Trade Zones; and state grant programs, such as the Business Employment Incentive Program (BEIP) and the Business Relocation and Retention Assistance Grant Program (BRRAG).